Why do pictures in Lightroom look different than on my camera?

[guybrush]

I'm shooting in RAW, so I can adjust the white balance and settings in Lightroom - so usually I don't really care about how they look on the camera.

However I took some really lovely ones of the sunset tonight and I just can't seem to make them look the way they are on the camera.

When I import to Lightroom, straight away the images look like they do on the camera, but after it process and renders them, it just makes them look flat and takes all the spark out of them. I have unticked the option to stop it from applying presets during the import, but that doesn't make a difference.

I really want to be able to apply the exact same settings on my cameras to Lightroom.

If it makes any difference, I'm using a 500D and LX3.

 

[awp]

The camera is applying presets - what you see on the LCD is a smalll jpeg using in camera settings. LR starts from basic data. You should be able to get a good result processing the RAW though.

 

[Chappers]

Your camera is applying " Picture Styles" to the image you see on the camera LCD. Lightroom isn't. Plus I suspect there will be a difference between the camera LCD and your monitor.

The initial image rendering you see in Lightroom is the camera produced preview JPEG. Lightroom though re-renders the image to a it's own preview

Now you can apply the picture styles with Lightroom. Go to the Develop Module and go to Camera Calibration, it's at the bottom of the right hand pane. Second item down is "Profile". It'll be set to Adobe Standard. use the drop down menus to select the same characteristics as the camera is set too. This should improve matters.

Don't forget the advantage of Lightroom is that you are not not limited to the way the camera manufacturer decides what the image should look like. It's under you control

 

[Trev Rich]

This is a perfect example of when people say.... "if you photoshop it, it isn't a real photo" despite the camera processing, sharpening, adding saturation and contrast.
The RAW file does none of these leaving you full control.

 

[guybrush]

Now you can apply the picture styles with Lightroom. Go to the Develop Module and go to Camera Calibration, it's at the bottom of the right hand pane. Second item down is "Profile". It'll be set to Adobe Standard. use the drop down menus to select the same characteristics as the camera is set too. This should improve matters.

Ahh, Camera Calibration has helped a bunch, thank you!